Challenge #15 - Endings

Hi folks

We have reached the midpoint of the month - day and challenge 15 of 30!

No matter how much writing you've done or haven't done over the past two weeks, well done, everyone!

Every day you write something (no matter how good or bad you think it might be in the moment) is a better day than one where you don't write.  These are just first drafts, you can go back and fix whatever you want later.  For now, just let the pages flow.

Happy writing to all!

Now, just to shake things up, let's skip to the end of the story :)

And also remember, you can ignore this prompt and write whatever you like.

Just write some pages and turn them in before 8am.  That's enough to satisfy the challenge.




Let’s get you that writing prompt…


Challenge #15 - Endings

Due: Tuesday, November 16th, 8am
(whenever 8am arrives in your time zone; we’ll do the math here in the Central Time zone, no worries :)

Sometimes you don’t know quite how to start.  Maybe you don’t know the middle either.

But you know how you want the story to end.

You know how you want it to look, you know how you want the audience to feel when they leave the theater.

You know the last image, the last line, the last character you want to leave with the audience as the lights go down for the last time and the story ends.

So write the ending.

Think of something you want to happen on stage.

A happy, sad, shocking, creepy, or ambiguous ending (heck, throw all five of those together if you’re feeling ambitious).

Is there something you’ve always wanted to see on stage but no one else has done it yet?

Is there something you’ve seen onstage before but no one does tells that story any more, and you want to tell it in a different way for a 21st century audience?

What’s your ending?

Then you can write the rest of the play toward that ending.

The ending might change later on in your process, but for now, start with an ending.




How to submit your work for Challenge #15

You have options.  They are:

Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and send as an attachment to an email sent to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com

OR

Copy and past your script in the body of an email and send it to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com

OR

Post your script online (as a Google doc, or in a blog post, on your own personal website, etc.) - email a link to this script to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com
(If you’re going to Google doc route, just make sure to have the document public, or give permissions to our email address to open it)

When emailing us, make the subject line of your email - Challenge #15
(That just helps us sort through the email more quickly)
(Or, you know, just reply to this email if you want :)

OR

Post the link for the online document option above in the comments section on this very blog post for this challenge on our writing challenge blog.



Again, this is: Due: Tuesday, November 16th, 8am
(whenever 8am arrives in your time zone; we’ll do the math here in the Central Time zone, no worries :)

 

And, just to reassure you, no, we are not going to be sticklers about you following these directions down to the minutest detail - the important thing is that you write, and then that you share it with us, so we can keep track of who’s writing every day.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline on the first few days.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

Also, no, there is no penalty for finishing and submitting early - but it also isn’t a race, so give yourself all the time up til 8am on Tuesday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

A friendly reminder - you don’t have to write to the prompts if they don’t inspire you.  You can ignore them and just write whatever you want, just as long as you’re writing (that’s the main thing, not what you write)

Someone had a good question about the overall goal of the month, are we supposed to write a full-length play, or two one-act plays, etc.?  The short answer is no (unless you want to).  The longer answer is here if you’re curious.

For those concerned about format, we’re pretty liberal about that, too - just as long as it’s legible and in English.  More on that here.

Again, remember, it doesn’t need to be great, it doesn’t even need to be responding to this prompt (the prompt is just there so you’re not staring at a blank screen to start with no idea what to write about :)

Doesn't even need to be complete - you could have the beginning or the middle or the end of an idea, maybe two out of three but not all, that's still fine. This is all about getting things started, you can write more later. You have 15 more days to build on whatever you come up with today, if you want. Just get anything on the page, even if won't make sense to anyone else, as long as it make sense to you.

It just needs to be something.

And that something can be:

Lights up.

The lovers unite.  The music swells.

Lights down.

The End

That’s always your escape hatch, every day.

That’s your base line.

Build on it.

Have fun.

Don’t stress.

Make an impulsive decision and run with it.

Breathe.

You’ve got the day (and a half).

Just write.